Dispensing apparatus



, April 26, 1960 J. A. METzGER DISPENSING APPARATUS Filed May '7. 1958United States DISPENSlNG APPARATUS John A. Metzger, Chicago, Ill.,assignor to Stanley Knight Corporation, Chicago, lll., a corporationApplication May 7, 1958, Serial No. 733,562

7 Claims. (Cl. 222-145) My invention resides in the iield of dispensingapparatus and is particularly utilized in the soda fountain equipmenttrade for dispensing fountain beverages.

Accordingly, a primary object of my invention is the provision of adispensing assembly composed of a dispenser unit, a supply unit and aflow regulating unit.

Yet another object is the provision of a dispenser assembly whereby anyindividual unit of the assembly may be speedily and easily removed by asingle simple adjustment without removing the other units.

Another object is the provision of a dispensing assembly having adispensing spout which may serve as a mixing point, flow restrictor, anddelivery spout for a variety of dispensed beverages such as pure sodawater, carbonated mixed drink, pure syrup, plain water, or noncarbonatedmixed drinks.

Another object is the provision of a syrup or pin point soda deliverystructure which may be readily adjusted to vary the rate of flow ofsyrup or to obtain the proper mix of soda or plain water with the syrup.

Another object is the provision of a syrup delivery tube which willprevent the residual syrup in the spout from dripping after the deliverypressure is shut off.

Yet another object is the provision of a simple adjustment wherebysealing engagement between the engaging surfaces of the individualcomponent units may be easily and quickly obtained by manipulation ofv asingle sealing and adjusting means.

Another object is the provision of a dispensing assembly including adispenser unit, a supply unit, a normally electrically operated flowregulating unit, and stand-by manually operated actuating means topermit continued operation of the latter unit in the event of a powerfailure.

Other objects will become apparent from time to time throughout thecourse of the following specication.

My invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in thefollowing drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective View showing a plurality of my dispensingunits assembled in a soda fountain;

Figure 2 is a sectional View of my dispensing assembly; and

Figure 3 is a partial sectional view of a modification of my dispensingassembly.

Like reference numerals will be used to indicate like parts throughoutthe specification.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to Figure l, aperspective View of my dispenser assembly suitable for installation in afountain or other mounting means is shown. The fountain unit shownconsists of a cover assembly with a mounting face and a pair of sideadjusting knobs 12 and 14 for a purpose to be explained hereafter. Aplurality of dispenser assemblies including dispenser units each havinga discharge outlet for the drink to be dispensed are shown mounted onthe forefront of the mounting face and each dispenser unit has anactuating bar 16. The actuating bar is operated by hand pressure or bythe impingement of a glass passage 26.

as shown. Suitable conventional Wiring mechanism initiates operation ofthe dispenser assembly to cause ow of the drink through the dispensingunit and into the glass 18 as indicated in Figure 1.

Turning now to Figure 2 -my dispenser assembly is shown as consistingessentially of three parts including a dispenser unit 20, a flowregulating unit 70 consisting of a pair of flow regulators 71 and 72 anda supply unit 50.

The dispenser unit 20 consists `of a spout 22 made of either moldedplastic or metal which fits into an aperture 11 in the mounting face 10.The mounting face 10 serves as a support for the dispenser units 20. Asillustrated in Figure 2 the spout is mounted in a position downwardlyinclined with respect to the horizontal and is held in place by means ofC-retainer washer 23 which ts into a suitable external groove 24 of thespout. The washer 23 projects outwardly beyond the exterior surface ofthe spout so that upon contact of the washer with the mounting face 10further forward and downward movementof the spout will be prevented.

The spout may include any suitable number of passages for dispensingliquids but I preferably employ an upper passage 26 and a lower passage28. Although I have shown passages of different diameters, it will beunderstood that the diameters may be varied to adapt to the owcharacteristics of the liquid to be dispensed. Upper Vpassage 26terminates forwardly in an internally threaded substantially verticalbore 27 making an angle of slightly greater than with respect to theaxis of Directly in line with threaded bore 27 and extending upwardlyinto the body of the spout I have shown a recessed area 27a the purposeof which will be explained hereinafter.

Upper passage 26 and lower passage 28 meet at a junction 30 which inelect forms a mixing chamber having a discharge outlet 32.

A syrup orpin point soda deliverytube is indicated at 3.4 and has anupper externally threaded portion 36 in engagement with the threadedbore 27. Thus tube 34 is vertically adjustable in bore 27. An uppersmooth surfaced or anged portion 35 extends into passage 26 directly inline with the internal recess 27a. in the lower end of the tube may beused for the reception of an adjusting tool so that the position of thedelivery tube may be adjusted while the tube is in place in the spout.

At the inner or right hand end of the spout I have shown a hub 38 whichforms an extension of upper passage 26 projecting substantially beyondthe inner surface 39 of the spout. The lower passage 28 terminates in aninternal recess 40 to thereby form a shoulder for the reception of asoda water restrictor or a plain water insert bushing 41. The soda waterrestrictor illustrated may be formed with a plurality of cross drilledholes 42, whereas a plain water bushing will usually be formed with asingle, central bore. The portion of the restrictor received within thespout will be of a lesser diameter than lower passage 2S to permit liowof the soda toward the mixing chamber. The plain water insert may alsobe of a reduced diameter.

At the right side of my dispenser assembly a supply unit is indicatedgenerally at 50 and consists of a clamp.

ceived within the channel 52 `are a pair of clamp screws4 54 and 56.Upper clamp screw S4 impinges upon a iitting 58 having a projectingportion 59 engaging a suitable bore 73 in a conduit 79 along the bottomof upper A groove 37 solenoid 76. Lower clamp screw 56 impnges upon asimilar fitting 60 having a projecting portion 61 received within asimilar bore 74 in the lower solenoid 78 Clamp screws 54 and 56, inassociation with support 52 serve as adjustable sealing and securingmeans as moreY fully described below. Suitable leader lines -62 and 64are connected to the supplyttings 58 and 60 Vrespectively and tosuitable sources of either soda,syrup, plain Water or drink beverage. Itwill be understood that the connection to these sources are conventionaland accordingly have not been illustrated. The sources will usually beunder pressure which may be created by gravity or carbon dioxide or anyother suitable means. Y interposed -between the dispenser spout unit 20and the supply unit G is a pair of actuating or flow regulators 71 and72 consisting essentially of 'an upper solenoid valve 76 and a lowersolenoid valve 78. Upper solenoid valve 76 has an internal conduit 79terminating in bores 73 and 81. Bore 81 is of a suliicient diameterceives projection 59 of the supply connection fitting.

Solenoid 76 has a plunger 83 adapted to reciprocate between a positionabove the conduit 79 to a position below it whereby communicationbetween the supply fitting 58 and passage 26 of the spout is cut olf,lSolenoid 78 has a similar plunger 84 adapted to reciprocate between aposition below conduit 80 in ow regulator 72 to a position above itwhereby communication between the supply unit 60 and passage 28 of thespout is cut oi. Bore 81a in ow regulator 72 receives the soda waterrestrictor or plain water insert bushing 41 and may have a diameterequal to bore 81 so that the flow regulators are completelyinterchangeable.

The knobs 12 and 14 (Figure 1) provide mechanical means to manuallyoperate the solenoid valves in the event of a power failure. Turning theknob actuates a small lever within the valve which lifts the valveplunger and thereby permits flow of the material being controlledwithout electrically actuating the solenoid coil.

O-ring seals 63, 63a, 65 and 66 encircle upper and lower littings 58 and60 respectively and hub 38 and soda restrictor or plain water insertbushing 41 respectively.Y

These rings seal the connections between the leader line ttings and thesolenoid valves and between the solenoid valves and the spout.

In Figure 3 the syrup or pin point soda delivery tube has an insert orpin soda ow restrictor 34a therein.

This ilow restrictor has at least one internal passage 34b whichsubstantially lessens the cross-sectional area of the delivery tube 34.

The use and operation of my invention is as follows: When my dispensingassembly is used to dispense a mixed drink, the operating bar 16 belowthe spout is depressed either by the drink container or the fountainVpassage down to the mixing chamber 30. Actuation of` the operating baralso causes retraction of plunger 84 which permits soda or plain waterto flow through the restrictor or insert bushing 41 and into the lowerpassage 28 where it mixes with the syrup in chamber 30. Should a powerfailure occur which prevents energization of the coil of the solenoid,the attendant may still dispense drinks by turning the knobs 12 or 14which will mechanically retract the plungers.

The soda or plain water tends to wash down the syrup tube so that asubsequent draught of water will not be flavored by any residual syrup.The bore of the mixing chamber 30 is formed substantially smoothly sorasage/isY Y f 4 that although there will be a sufcient mixture of thesoda and syrup in the mixing chamber to prevent separation of theliquids in a glass, the carbon dioxide will not be expelled and thusproduce a at drink. In other words the force of the combined stream ofsoda or plain water and syrup hitting the glass or the mixture alreadyin the glass will produce anal mixing action to thereby yield asparkling, lively drink.

An important feature of my invention is the provision of the opstandingflange 35 on the upper end of the soda delivery tube 34, which, inconjunction with the internal recess 27a at the left end of upperpassage 26, provides a convenient, simple and ecient drip eliminator. In

i' order to promote instant flow of the syrup through the l the start.

spout, I preferably incline the spout slightly with respect to thehorizontal. If the syrup flow begins instantly, the mixing action inchamber 30 will also begin immediately and the drink will be properlyproportioned right from When the passage containing the syrup isinclined however, the problem of dripping is intensified.' Byverticaladjustment of the delivery tube 34 .drip con' trol may beobtained in two ways. First, flange 35 forms a dam or dike at the end ofpassage 27 which prevents a residual amount of syrup between theextended plunger- 83 and the recessed portion of the passage 26 fromdrib bling down the tube. In many instances the mere dike effect of thisprojection will be sutlicient to prevent a dripping but with some syrupsit may secondly be desirable to adjust the delivery tube so that theclearance between the top of 4the tube and the corner of the recess 27ais such that the inherent viscosity of the syrup will prevent flow ofthe syrup through that aperture andl down the delivery tube, Uponapplication of a slight amount of pressure the syrup will be instantlyforced over the top lip of flange 35 and down the delivery tube.

It will be observed that the internal diameter of tube 34 is less thanthat of passage 26 with which the tube 34 Y is associated. Consequently,member 34 serves as a com- Y Vbination delivery tube and flowrestrictor.

, aitect the dike or darn etiect of the upper extension of tube 34.

It will be understood that whereas in Figure 2 I havel shown a dispenserassembly suitable for dispensing syrup from the upper passage and eithersoda or plain water from the lower passage, this is not essential. Whensoda` or plain water flows through the upper passage 26 and syrupthrough the lower passage, it may be highly desir? able to increase themixing action by the use of a restrictor 34a.

locity of the soda or water` Thus, without changing the line pressure, amuch greater mixing action can be ob-- tained.

Following the same principle, the soda water restrictor' 41 is effectiveto break up the ow of soda water to promote better mixing action.

Either gas under pressure or static pressure created` by maintaining thesource of supply higher than the dispensing assembly may be used toinitiate syrup How. f

It will be observed that the mounting face 10 and support channel 52have positioned between them an inner portion of the dispensing unit 20,the entire mechanisml of the regulating unit 70 and supply unit 50, theretainer 23 being eie'ctive to hold the inner end of dispensing unit'member 20 between mounting face 10 and support 52.' Adjustable securingand sealing means are provided by` the clamp screws 54, 56. When thescrews 54,156 are" in extended position, as illustrated for example inFigure 2, they are effective to cause engagement between the` Therestrictor limits the ow and increases the ve-` www parts are shown inFigure 2. Similarly, when the members 54, 56 are retracted from theposition shown in Figure 2 or, as the parts are illustrated in Figure 2,when the members 54, S6 are moved longitudinally to the right, it willbe clear that fittings 58, 60 may be easily and simply removed from theentire assembly without disturbing members 20 and 70. Similarly member70 can be removed by a mere retrograde movement of fitting 58, 60 andmember 70. In like manner, dispenser unit 20 may, when members 54, 56are retracted, be removed by the simple expedient of retractingretaining washer 23 and thereafter sliding the dispenser unit 20outwardly through aperture 11 in mounting base 10.

While I have described and shown a preferred embodiment and a variationof my invention, it will be understood that many variations may be madewithout departing from the essential spirit and scope of my invention.

Accordingly, the drawings and description are intended to beillustrative only and not definitive, and I do not Wish to be limitedexcept by the scope of the following appended claims.

I claim:

l. A dispensing assembly for dispensing both low and high viscosityliquids including a dispenser unit having at least a rst passage and asecond passage, the passages meeting at a junction to form a mixingpoint and a discharge outlet leading from the mixing point, at least oneof the passages having an adjustable liow restricter whereby the volumerate of iiow through that passage may be varied, at least one supplyunit leading to a source of liquid to be dispensed communicating withthe dispenser unit, and means for controlling the ow of liquid from thesupply unit to the dispenser unit and out the discharge outlet, at leasta portion of said rst passage being inclined with respect to thehorizontal, said first passage further including a generally verticalportion, said adjustable ow restrictor being positioned in the generallyvertical portion with its upper end projecting into the inclined portionto form an overflow dam.

2. The dispenser assembly of claim 1 further characterized by andincluding means for adjustably positioning the upper end of the owrestrictor in the inclined portion of the rst passage.

3. The dispenser assembly of claim 1 further characterized in that theflow restrictor is vertically adjustable and the inclined portion of therst passage is recessed in the line of movement of the ow restrictor tothereby permit positioning of the flow restrictor in the inclinedportion.

4. A dispenser assembly for dispensing both low and high viscosityliquids including a dispenser unit having at least one inlet passage anda discharge passage, a supply unit communicating with the dispenser unitand adapted for communication with a source of liquid, means forregulating the liow of liquid through the assembly, rst support meansfor the dispenser unit, second support means for the supply unit, saidlrst support means including a supporting face slightly inclined fromthe vertical and having an aperture therein for reception of thedispenser unit, the dispenser unit having a peripheral groove, and aretainer structure positioned within the groove for anchoring thedispenser unit to the supporting face, and means for clamping saidsupply unit, regulating means and dispenser unit together, the action ofsaid clamping means being resisted by said retainer structure.

5. A dispenser assem-bly adapted to be mounted at an angle with thehorizontal on a first support including a dispenser unit having a lrstpassage with a portion inclined to the horizontal and a second passage,the said passages meeting at a junction and a third passage leadingtherefrom to discharge, at least one flow restrictor disposed in one ofthe ow passages, the dispenser unit having a groove on a portion of itsperiphery, retainer means cooperable with the peripheral groove of thedispenser unt to secure the unit to the lirst support, a supply unitadapted -for connection to at least one source of iiuid under pressure,a ow regulating unit disposed between and having a passage communicatingwith the dispenser unit and the supply unit, a iiow regulator disposedwithin the flow regulating unit, external actuating means connected tothe ow regulator adapted to close communication between the dispenserunit and the supply unit, a second support, and adjustable sealing andsecuring means carried by the second support and engageable with thesupply unit and operable upon movement in one direction to cause themutually engaging surfaces of the Idispenser unit, the regulating unit,and the supply unit to form a tight engagement.

6. The dispenser assembly of claim 5 further characterized by andincluding a second ow restrictor located within the rst named iiowrestrictor, said second ow restrictor having an internal passage inaxial alignment with the passage through said first-named liowrestrictor and of less diameter than the passage through said firstnamedow restrictor.

7. The dispenser assembly of claim 5 in which the inclined rst passageis formed with an internal recess, said How restrictor being adjustablypositioned in a substantially vertical portion of the first passage withits upper end projecting into the inclined portion to form a vert-icallyadjustable ow dam, the internal recess in the inclined portion beingsubstantially in the path of movement of the rst How restrictor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,603,082 Jacobs Oct. 12, 1926 2,139,735 Dobkns Dec. 13, 1938 2,146,930Bassett Feb. 14, 1939 2,371,432 DiPietro Mar. 13, 1945 2,535,835 BurgessDec. 26, 1950 2,573,888 Benjamin et al Nov. 6, 1951 2,597,093 Gottliebet al. May 20, 1952 2,845,964 Harland Aug. 5, 1958

